Friday, March 27, 2009

Nyepi

Today is Nyepi. It is the Balinese New Year. We are in our villa, not eating, or speaking for 24 hours. The entire island is meant to be doing the same. I think it must be true for the most part as I haven’t seen a soul in the rice fields today, nor heard the men screeching to keep the birds away. We heard if you wander away from your house that the police strongly urge you to return. Some how without our knowing the silence from our Indian Vipassana and the fasting from Thailand have come together on this holy day here in Bali. It is obvious we haven’t written for awhile. Bali has so moved us that we skipped out on the rest of our itinerary to decide if this was a place we would want to come back to for a more long term adventure. We have both agreed YES! This is someplace that we will be coming back to, sooner rather than later. It is hard to capture the magic that is Bali. The subtle energy flow, perfect synchronicities, open hearts, smiles, the beauty and power of ceremony, the mountains, water, rice fields, soul connections, play. I have discovered how much I love to dance as a means of creative expression since I came here. I have also discovered one of my favorite things to do is to love. Alyssa and I still host a Sunday night Anahata meditation which we will miss here but will be taking with us to Santa Monica. I will be meeting her back home April 14 after making a two week stop to explore Switzerland and France and a beautiful man named Guillaume. Alyssa arrives home just before me and we both look forward to reconnecting with all of our friends and family. Alyssa and I gave a workshop here on the art of loving. It was a good process and we discovered that one of the things we value is holding a space for people to explore themselves. We will continue to do it in some form wherever we go. We see nothing but beautiful exciting possibilities for us both here and “home”. We are open to allowing our greatest ideals to come forward and have gained more clarity around continuing to share the tools and principles we learned while at USM. Alyssa continues to amaze me as a wonderful spiritual travel companion and soul friend. We get asked at least every other day if we are sisters. We get accused of being angels. We delight in playing and exploring together. We have learned to navigate not only our inner world but this outer world with love as our guidance system. A renewable resource. Open mind, open heart, open world. With deep love and gratitude for your continued interest and support, we send love from Bali..Alyssa and Laurel

About Me

Our four month adventure begins! India, Thailand, Bali, Austrailia, and New Zealand. We have recently graduated from the University of Santa Monica with masters in spiritual psychology. We are embarking on a trip of a lifetime, knowing that the trip will be one of internal and external exploration. We are seeing with new eyes and loving with more open hearts.